★ Field-verified · Dave's ownUSFS · dispersedFreeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Cibola National Forest
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · Socorro County, NM · 33.90212, -107.62991
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Dave's been here. A spot from Dave's own travels on U.S. Forest Service land — free to camp. Conditions still change, so confirm access, stay limits and fire rules before you go.
A secluded, grassy clearing in a shallow canyon lined with rocks and pine trees. This is a remote and primitive destination in Cibola National Forest. It is unspoiled and relaxing with a single fire ring. A short drive south of the Very Large Array radio telescope installation. There is sufficient flat space for multiple overland vehicles. I had a problem with flies during my stay, but wouldn't hesitate to stay again. Recommended. No cell service.
A night on record
Dave slept here, but his diary does not date the night: this entry carries only a timestamp it shares with 50 other entries in eight states, all written within the same three seconds — a file being saved, not a night. So it says nothing about season.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 476 (Sargent Canyon), 240 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as native material surface and maintenance level 3 – suitable for passenger cars.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 476 (Sargent Canyon), 240 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 476 (Sargent Canyon): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Cibola National Forest
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,685 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Cibola National ForestNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel21 mi
- @Mail21 mi
- GGrocery26 mi
- WWater34 mi
- +Urgent care36 mi
- MMechanic43 mi
- EVEV fast charger43 mi
- RxPharmacy44 mi
- HHardware44 mi
- LLaundry44 mi
- ShShower55 mi
- PPropane57 mi
- OOutfitter58 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 34-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 21 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 43-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Dump. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Cibola National Forest
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
7,685 ft
Ground slope
2.9% · flat
County
Socorro County, NM
Coordinates
33.90212, -107.62991
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSargent Tank · ~0.8 mi · USGS: intermittent lake or pond
- Nearest townMorine Place · ~2.6 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- Fuelnone within 30 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~20.8 mi
- Mapping is thin out hereAn empty row means nothing is mapped within that radius — not that nothing exists. Small stores, seasonal resorts and single fuel pumps out here often never make it onto the map. Treat these as unconfirmed and ask locally.
From the field — what Dave saw, in person
Cell service
No signal
Getting there
Any vehicle managed it
Fire ring
Yes
Toilet on site
No
Tent friendly
Yes
Verdict
Recommended
EV charging — from Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger43.4 mi straight-line E — Arby's #5152 - Socorro · FCN · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 4 within 50 · 23 within 100 · 90 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)43.8 mi — Socorro, NM - Tesla Supercharger, Socorro
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO43.6 mi — SOCORRODCFAST DC FAST 1, Socorro
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)55.7 mi — LOVES 1045 - NM # 1045 CP6K 3, Truth or Consequences, NM · ChargePoint Network · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Best Western Socorro Hotel and Suites - Tesla Destination, Socorro, 43.8 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 391741 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletHughes Mill · ~5.9 mi SE · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletGroup Site Double Vault Toilet Restroom · ~21.6 mi NW · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletDatil Campground South · ~21.6 mi NW · BLM
- Vault / pit toiletDatil Campground East · ~21.7 mi NW · BLM
Coming out here — Cibola National Forest · Cibola National Forest · NM
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Sargent Tank as an intermittent lake or pond, ~0.8 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 2.9% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Cibola National Forest elsewhere
Other camps near Cibola National Forest
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Hughes Mill Campground~6.0 mi
- Bear Trap Campground~6.8 mi
- Datil Well Recreation Area Campground~21.7 mi
The unit that manages Cibola National Forest
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Cibola National Forest are set by Cibola National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Cibola National Forest
Source
Dave's own travels
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FIELD VERIFIED by Dave Lalande -- he has stood on this site. Coordinates are his own GPX track point, not a geocode. County and state confirmed against the FCC Census Block API (Socorro County, NM). Everything under 'From the field' is a direct observation; nothing here is inferred from a land record.
A night on record
Dave's own GPS diary, 2017–2020: the date of the waypoint he saved here. The timestamp is UTC, so an entry saved in the evening carries the next morning's date. An observation of one night, never a forecast.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
Verified on the ground. Dave has stood on this one. His diary does not date the night. Conditions still change — confirm before you commit.
What we don’t know about Cibola National Forest
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Cibola National Forest
When the high country opens →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →Reading the aerial →All field notes →